Heretofore, packaging of seafood in vacuum packed containers, which could subsequently be microwaved, has not been extended to include the addition of ingredients such as sauces and the like whereby products such as shrimp scampi and lemon pepper snapper can be achieved.
With vacuum packaging of any seafood product, there has been significant concern with the potential of mold, yeast, bacteria, especially botulism. Prior to the development at hand, seafood companies have stayed away from attempting to produce a product comparable to that disclosed within. Processes have been tried before to eliminate the threat of botulism. Examples of such processes are nitrogen flushing and radiation. Notwithstanding these attempts, success has not previously been obtainable, primarily because of problems associated with the integrity of the packaging leading to health issues such as botulism.
While vacuum sealing has been successfully used for packaging shellfish without the shells and other fish in bulk, flat packing seafood marinated in sauces in vacuum sealed containers suitable for retail has not been successfully done, explaining the absence of the use of such packaging in the marketplace. Further, with prior packaging, the packaged product has not been suitable for microwaving the product directly in its shipping and sales package. While vacuum packaging has been used for a variety of vegetables and meats, this usage has not extended successfully to retail packaging of seafood.
An example of vacuum packaging technique of food stuffs generally is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,866. A seafood vacuum pack system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,942 but with respect to packing technique, this patent teaches away from the subject invention in that shrimp are intentionally stacked one above the other at the periphery of the packages. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,507 teaches the use of a "protruding-up curved section" of a case which is also contrary to the packing technique of the subject invention. Neither of these latter patents disclose any use of prepared delicacies such as shrimp scampi and fish in lemon pepper or honey mustard sauce which are prepared, and subsequently vacuum packed in a microwaveable container. None of the prior art patents teach microwaving such foodstuffs in a sealed package without any venting during the microwaving step.